Barely twenty-four hours after part of the Delhi Metro bridge collapsed because of a faulty pillar, killing six people, another mishap occurred at the site on Monday when workers were clearing the debris.
Barely twenty-four hours after part of the Delhi Metro bridge collapsed because of a faulty pillar, killing six people, another mishap occurred at the site on Monday when workers were clearing the debris.
Three cranes toppled over under the weight of a huge girder used to build the carriageway, sending dozens of frenzied workers and policemen scurrying to safety. Six of them suffered minor injuries.The accident occurred when the lever of one of the cranes snapped and the remaining two cranes could not handle the weight of the girder.
Sunday’s mishap, meanwhile, caused heated discussion in the Lok Sabha even as Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) managing director E Sreedharan withdrew his resignation after the government refused to accept it. The 77-year-old technocrat had resigned on Sunday taking moral responsibility for the accident.
Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit sent Sreedharan a letter early Monday morning, asking him to continue as DMRC chief. It is learnt that Union urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy and Delhi’s lieutenant governor Tejinder Khanna, too, spoke to Sreedharan. Sources said the government was averse to accepting Sreedharan’s resignation — there is a feeling that his absence would hamper the pace of completion of the metro corridors in time for the Commonwealth Games next year.
“We have rejected his resignation after taking into account his exceptional track record. The credit of building the metro on time and looking after its implementation goes to him. Just this incident can’t be held against such an eminent person,” Dikshit said.
Though there were no voices against Sreedharan, CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta raised doubts in the Lok Sabha over the accountability of contractors for Metro projects, demanding a judicial inquiry into Sunday’s incident. Dasgupta alleged safety and construction standards were being compromised in a bid to complete the Metro corridors in time for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Reddy, however, rejected the allegation. Quoting data from the Global Index of Accidents, he said the standards set by DMRC were better than those of the London and Singapore Metro. Reddy, however, reiterated that an inquiry has already been ordered into the series of events that led to both the mishaps at the site.
About the role of Gammon India, Dikshit said: “If the inquiry finds lapses on part of Gammon India, action will be taken but we have to wait for the report to come.”
On its part, Gammon India denied any negligence, claiming that in such accidents contractors are always the soft targets. “We followed highest safety measures and have safety engineers. We are an ISO-certified company and prima facie I don’t find any mistake on our part. Let’s wait for the inquiry report,” said Umesh Gupta, vice-president, Gammon India.
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